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Perplexed is probably the best way to put it.
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That goes for the Raptors, Raptors fans and many casual basketball observers that watched Monday’s stunning end to a Denver Nuggets win over Toronto.
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What appeared to be headed for a thrilling finish became anything but when referee Scott Foster, a man known around the league to have a thin skin when it comes to players having their say, decided he heard something from Scottie Barnes he could not condone and basically decided a one-possession game with an ejection.
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Post-game, Barnes told reporters he was talking to himself without mentioning what he actually said.
In a post-game pool report conducted by a member of the Denver media, Foster said he ejected Barnes for “verbiage which directly questioned the integrity of the crew.”
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The technical and subsequent ejection turned a one possession game with 28 seconds remaining into a two-possession game because an official felt his crew was being disrespected and didn’t like it.
The Nuggets, and give them credit for this, made three consecutive free throws, the two for a questionable call on Jakob Poeltl that preceded the Barnes muttering and the one freebie for the Barnes technical, moving a one-point lead to four.
A Raptors team that had fought all night and probably held the edge in terms of carrying the play to that point, did not make another basket and wound up on the short end of a 118-113 decision.
Was the technical warranted? By the rulebook, yes it was.
But the other question is, did it need to be called at such a crucial point in the game?
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Barnes did not appear to show up Foster publicly. Some lip readers — why is the world suddenly filled with lip readers? — suggested post-game that Barnes, with his head down, could be seen saying “Y’all are cheating, bro.”
Again, no way to verify that. Barnes did seem genuinely surprised by Foster’s call in the moment and again afterwards when he addressed the media after the game.
Was it the culmination of a build-up over the course of the game between Barnes and Foster. There’s no question Barnes is not shy about voicing his displeasure when he believes he has been fouled and the call isn’t made. He did so on a handful of occasions during the game, but was that a factor in all of this? Should that have been a factor?
Coaches and players often talk about time and score awareness. A gamble you might try up nine points is not one you might try in a one-point game.
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Players, at least the vast majority of players, don’t throw up a heat check three with the game on the line. They might midway through a quarter, but not at the end of the game.
And, yes, officials have to officiate the same way at tipoff as they do in the final 30 seconds.
But quite frankly, that call in those circumstances wreaks of ego.
Knowing full well that a technical at that point in the game likely to almost definitely decides the contest, Foster went ahead and called one anyway.
Again, did it need to be called?
The one thing most will agree on is seeing a good game decided on an official’s call away from any game action is a bad way to end a night.
The Raptors who did speak post-game — Barnes, Fred VanVleet, and head coach Nick Nurse — each tread very carefully when discussing the particulars of the game-altering call.
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The league has no qualms about fining a player or coach who demeans one of their officials to the media.
But all made it very clear that, at least in the Raptors room, the opportunity to settle this one on the court was taken away from them by Foster.
“It’s tough to see a great game like that get ruined at the end, but we got to find ways to overcome that,” VanVleet said.
“I guess they were just mad,” Barnes said. “I don’t know.”
Nurse probably summed up the feelings of Raptors fans everywhere the best.
“I think it was a great game that looked like it was coming down to a great ending that was a little bit unfortunate that we didn’t get to see a good ending.”
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